Transfer mechanism for weft-replenishing looms



Nov. 29, 1927. 1,651,113

' H. L. BLANCHARD TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOUIS- Filed Sept. 21, 1925 2 SheetsSheet 1 I/VVE/VTDE' #40040 t... Buvvc H680 2 Sheets-Sheet? H. L. BLANCHARD Filed Sept. 21, 1925 I m B L TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Nov. 29, 1927.

Patented Nov. 29, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,651,113 PATENT OFFICE;

HAROLDL. BLANCHARD, 0F MILLBURY, MASSACHUSETTS,-ASSIGNOR 'roonomrtron & KNOWLES LOOM WORKS, or WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS;

TRANSFER MECHANISM FQR'WEFT-REPL N-ISHING LooMS';

Application filed September This invention relates to' transfer mecha nism for Weft replenishingrlooms and more: particularly to a yieldable device which'will prevent breakage should: the bobbinyabout; to be transferred be-' improperly placeda In Weft replenishing? mechanism of the; multi-color typenthe bobbins toibertransferrech are ordinarily: arranged in j verticall parallel; stacksfrom:which they are delivered: to aa. common transfer/position. Due to faultyre lease or an oversized=bobbin the latter' willr occasionally be disposed diagonally withzrerv spect to theiaxisbof the shuttle, and will not: be: -moved'-' into thev shuttleproperly by J the transferrer armu Transferrer arms as Lat-present used com prise aipair ofspacedQdependiiig fingerS for; the lay engaging-latch and a: horizontally disposed arm which engages-the incoming shuttle to 1 move the same; downwardly, the whole being integral; After the I transferrer" arm-"is connected with the lay; it isrequired to movedownwardly-thereby; and should a bobbin be'zm-isp'lace'div breakage i will v result eitherin the magazine orfshuttlex It isether: general object of my "present:-inventioni to" preventzthe: aforesaid rbreakages'by --providi ngayx-yieldj ng connection; between the *lay anda the bobbin to be transferred? In mu'lti-color 1 weft 'rreplen-ishi-ng mechanism the weft detector is'usuallyfon the re plenishing end to cooperate-with 1 the single box andrit is necessary to Withdraw -the edeitector on? faulty as -well= as prop en transfere ring picks." With yielding ttransfer rerrarmsi as proposed heretofore no PIOViSlOIDhHSibGQIl made=for the=withdrawa-l of the-detector, the a same: remaining unchanged Ea-IIClTl lII position; to be damaged bytheincomiIr-g; bobbin. It? is accordingly a further "obj ect' of my'iinven tion' to provide 1 a2 yielda'ble transferrerl arnr having a feeler withdrawing partvvhichper forms its normal feele'r' withdrawing function eventhough the arm yields to: prevent breakage.

The usual form of transferrer arm is held in raised position -b y' a-'coil' spring; one end of which is anchored on a fixed stud and the other end of which engages some portion of the tran-sferrervarm.- It is a-moreparticular object- 0f my invention to providea transferrer arm" formed" of relatively movable" 21;1925? SerialNb. 57,512.

parts" and employ the resilience 'of-th'e coil spring to" resist relative angular movement" of the component parts;

It is a still further object of-my invention" to'provide-a transferrer arm'the hub portions of. which; are spring pressed together to be relatively movable longitudinally E of each: other and so arranged that the portion which engages theusual spring wilrbe moveditm wards the latter at the time of an improper? transfer to insure continued Coiitatatwithdhf spring. Inthi's connection lform'thetv'vo" hub members of the transi'e'rre'r arm with in terengaging teeth which" permitfyi'elding movement-in one'direction'against thenormal' spring, but which require the horizontal arm" to unovei to normal raised position when the COll spring'isfree toact on the-'dependingj fingers.

VVith these and otherobj sets in view which willappear as the descriptionproceeds, my invention resides in the combinati'on andare ra'ngement of parts hereinafter described; and? set forth in the claims;

Inithe' accompanying drawings, wherein-I haveshown a 'convenient embodiment of my" lnventron.

Fig-.1 is an end elevation- 0f a'p'ortion'of a multi-colo-r W'eft: replenishing} mechanism; looking'from' the central portion of the loom" and havingmy improved transferrer-arm shown in normal position,-

-Fig.'.2- isa view similar to 1,- but shout ring theftrans'ferrer' arm in a yielding posl 1'on asllt 'enga es an im re erl ositionedbobbin, g p p y P Fig.3 is a front elevationi taken in the direction of arrow 8, Fig; 1,

F 4 is an enlarged'verti'cal longitudinal SQGtlOII .through'the transferrer arm hub;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary View looking'in. the direction of arrov'v' 5, Fig. 3, showing'the two portions'of the transierrerarm hub inseparated relation, and

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section, taken on: line 6+6 of Fig; 5.

Referring to the drawings it-will be seen that Ihave provided a Weft replenishing mechanism 10 of the usual mu'lti-color type,

having'a fixed stud'll secured therein by set screw 12, as shown in Fig. 3; The trans ferrer mechanism comprises a substantially horizontal arm 13 having a bobbin engaging foot 14 movable vertically through a. slot 15 formed in the replenishing mechanism. Said arm 13 is provided with a horizontally ex tending hub 16 integral therewith and movable freely about the stud 11. Said hub 16 has a reduced section 1'? and a still further reduced end portion 18 around which is located a coil spring 19. The end of the stud 11 is turned down as at 20 and has mounted thereon a collar 21 held to the stud by a pin 22. One end of the coil spring is received by the collar as at 23 and the other end thereof engages one of the depending fingers to be described hereinafter. The matter thus far described is of the usual form and with the exception of the reduced por-' tion 17 of the hub 16 forms no part of my present invention.

In carrying out my invention I provide a sleeve normally held fixed with respect to the hub 16 and having depending therefrom a pair of substantially parallel spaced fingers 31. The hub 16 is provided with teeth 32 and notches 33, while thesleeve 30 is provided with corresponding teeth 34 and notches 35. Said notches and teeth are normally engaged with each other as shown in Figure 3 and are held in this position by a heavy compression coil spring 36 disposed between nuts 37 threaded on the reduced section 17 of the hub 16 and the adjacent end of the sleeve 30, said spring serving to move the sleeve 30 to the left as shown in Fig- 3. The pressure of the spring is adjustable by means of the nuts 37.

Extending between the fingers 31 is a stud 38 upon which is pivoted for free m0ve ment a latch 39 having a notch 40 adapted to engage a bunter 41 forming part of the box plate 42 mounted on the lay 43. Said latch is raised by means of a connector 44 operatively attached to the upper part of the' weft replenishing mechanism and is raised at the time of transfer from the position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 2. The free end 45 of coil spring 19 engages one of the fingers 31 to hold the transferrer arm in its normal raised position and also to move the fingers 31rearwardly with respect to the hub 16 when the parts of the arm are displaced from normal relative position. I

The weft detector comprises a stand 46 held in fixed position and having mounted therein for vertical movement a block 47 on which is pivoted an actuator lever 48. One end of this lever is connected by arod 49 to the replenishing mechanism not shown and the other end thereof moves in a slotted arm 50 through which extends a controller pin 51. The latter is operatively connected by well known means to the yarn engaging detector 52 carried on a slide 53 mounted in a feeler bed 54 supported on the stand 46.

A lug 55 is secured to the slide and is positioned for engagement by the extended end of stud 38 movable with the fingers 31.

Under normal conditions, at the time of transfer, the latch 40 will be raised to the position shown in Fig. 2, where it will'be engaged by the bunter 41 and moved forward as the lay advances and stud 38 will engage the lug 55 to withdraw the detector out of the path of the incoming bobbin. Should the incoming bobbin be properly positioned with respect to the shuttle it will be engaged by the foot 14 of the transferrer arm 13 and inserted in the shuttle the springs 19 and 36 holding the parts of the arm together so that they move as a unit. Should the bobbin be improperly positioned, however, as indicated in Fig. 2, so as to have the axis thereof oblique with respect to the shuttle, it will not move into the shuttle properly and will prevent downward movement of the transferrer arm 13. As the advancing lay continues to move the fingers 31 forward thesleeve 30 will rotate about the hub portion 17 and cause teeth 34 to move along the adjacent faces of the teeth 32 formed on the hub 16 against the action of springs 19 and 36. The parts will then assume the position shown in Fig. 2, wherein it will be seen that the arm 13 is permitted to remain in raised position without resultant damage either to the bobbin, shuttle or adjacent portions of the replenishing mechanism and that the latch 40 is permitted to move forward under action of the bunter 41 as the lay approaches front center to withdraw the feeler. As the lay recedes the pressure of the springs 19 and 36 will return sleeve 30 to its normal positionas shown in Fig. 3 through the action of the teeth and notches. V 'From the foregoing it, will be noted that the separating movement of the sleeve 30 with respect to the teeth .formed on the hub 16 is toward the spring 19 so that continued cooperation of the said spring and fingers 31' is insured. It will also be noted that the tendency of spring 19 is to return the sleeve 30 to its normal relative position with respect to the hub 16 when said parts are separated. Furthermore, it will be noted that the weft detector is withdrawn on all the transferring picks, whether the transfer be proper or faulty.

Having thus described my invention it will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invent-ion, and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a transfer mechanism for weft replenishing looms, a transferrer arm, a hub integral therewith, a stud mounted in fixed position for the hub, teeth formed on the hub, a sleeve surrounding a portion of the hub, teeth formed on the sleeve, resilient means to hold the teeth in operative engagement with each other, alay engaging memher supported by said fingers, and a coil spring surrounding a portion of the hub and having one end thereof in engagement with one of the fingers of the sleeve and having the other end thereof held in fixed position with respect to the stud, said sleeve being movable longitudinally with respect to the hub at the time of improper transfer toward said coil spring.

2. In a transfer mechanism for weft replenishing looms, a transferrer arm, a hub integral therewith, teeth formed on said hub and having surfaces inclined with respect thereto, a sleeve mounted on said hub,

fingers depending from the sleeve, a layengaging member supported by the fingers, teeth formed on said sleeve and having. inclined surfaces to engage the teeth formed on the hub, resilient means of holding said teeth in operative contact with each other, and a coil spring having one end held in fixed position and having the other end thereof in normal contact with one of the depending fingers to hold the transferrer arm in raised position but permitting yielding relative angular movement of the sleeve in respect to the hub at the time of improper transfer.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

HAROLD L. BLANCHARD. 

